We are trying to take some cool Alpha screenshots and gameplay video for the new epic trailer, but we need some well-populated games for this.

The idea is to enter a game en masse, set turn time to 1-2 minutes, rapidly expand within the first 15 turns, then set off a lot of battles and change the turn time to 5 minutes, so we could capture a video properly.

We are going to do this tomorrow (Thursday) evening. Everyone is welcome - the more, the merrier. Here's the schedule (UK time, please convert to local time here):

Our current promotion manager had to quit before ever starting (being unable to find any available time), which means the position is now open again.

What we're looking for:We're looking for a third person to be an equal part of the team. Me and Amok want to concentrate on game development and need someone to take over all promotion-related things. This includes creating the buzz in the internet, requesting reviews, contacting people and companies, building connections, looking for potential partners, finding new creative ways to promote the game, handling the marketing, etc. The most important thing we expect, for starters, is bringing new players into the game.

After the release of the Custom maps alpha there's been all sorts of rumors about the future of the game, including various doom and gloom scenarios. Well, now we can finally set all these matters straight.

On the 1st of December we're planning to merge the two separate games we currently have (the old game + Alpha). This is when the hard work some of you put into making custom maps will finally pay off (as people will actually start playing them!)

As part of the process:

All existing custom maps will be kept intact.

SP and stats from the Alpha will be added to your SP and stats in the old game.

Upgrades will be reset (with SP refunded).

All players will have access to the game. As in the old version, some features will be Premium-only.

All Premium packs will remain, with a few (small) changes. Scenarios pack will be used for custom maps, as well as for scenarios.

Basically, things will continue as with a regular update, so DON'T PANIC!

It's been only 4 days since the Custom maps alpha launch, but thing have been evolving quite rapidly. We have 255 maps now (127 published) - most of them of questionable quality, but there are a few gems as well. Given time, I belive we will have some excellent custom maps on our hands, some probably surpassing the default map.

Meanwhile, we've been working hard on fixing all the bugs (of which there were plenty!). All of the worst ones are gone now; still a few minor ones left to weed out. Thanks a lot to everyone who was helping us with bug reports!

There were a lot of helpful suggestions as well - some already implemented (editor tools), others are still on the to-do list. The most recent addition is the customizable color scheme, allowing to fit labels and borders to you particular map and to use lighter maps.

At the moment, it's only available to Premium players (active subscription or Full package). The alpha uses completely separate database, so your account details are copied there. Registration is automatic. Nothing you do in the alpha affects your account in the current version. SP, ranks and medals are not transferred due to the radical changes there.

Scenarios and presets are temporarily disabled, they will be back very soon!

Feel free to poke around and create maps. Remember, that this is the alpha version, and it's pretty damn raw. We need your help in testing it and violently eradicating all the bugs. Please report them in the new forum: http://afterwind.com/forum/board.php?board_id=200

I am the new addition to the Afterwind team. My function in the AW team is business development. In short terms this means that I will be working on promoting, guiding the line of the business, Business relaions etc. However my most important function will be to keep whipping Amok and Ivan to progress their developments!

At the moment I am finishing my graduate on CBS (Copenhagen business school). Before I joined AW I was part of a new project (WelfareDenmark) consisting of 5 Kinect programmers and 3 sales/business development guys. I was part of the 3 sales/business development guys. We started from scratch two years ago; the project turned out very well; a bigger company offered xx million dollars for the 60% of the firm.

Terrible news, everybody. We have decided to delay the release of the Custom maps alpha by 5 days, until Oct. 15th. The reason is, the current version is way too raw, even for the alpha release. We need a few extra days to iron some things out and do at least minimal testing.

Sorry about this, it appears we were a bit too optimistic about the amount of time we needed

The progress on custom maps is going full-speed, a lot of things are ready, but other still require some work. Along with the promised custom maps, we're also releasing Population casualties, revamped End game screen/stats, new lobby interface and some other minor goodies.

The release date for the limited public alpha is 10.10.2012 - in one month!